Haslam calls on Suzuki Japan for 'help'

Haslam wants Suzuki Japan to step up its investment in its World Superbike Championship effort after slipping further behind Aprilia at Misano.

Leon Haslam has issued a plea to Suzuki Japan to siphon more resources to its World Superbike effort or risk missing out on the chance to win this year's title.

Haslam and Suzuki began the season as the package to beat, but have been slowly reeled in by Max Biaggi and Aprilia since then, the Briton losing the series lead for the first time at Miller Motorsports Park.

Furthermore, with the Italian pairing going on to win its seventh and eighth races this season at Misano, Haslam has now slipped 37 points behind in the fight for this year's title - the largest the gap has been all season.

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Indeed, while Haslam praised his team for the 'hard work' it is doing in keeping him at the sharp end of the field, he wants the manufacturer to step in and help the Alstare outfit in its fight to beat the ever-improving Aprilia.

"Max is riding well and the Aprilia is currently the package to beat, but I'm confident that, as long as we all work hard, we can beat him," he said. "We do all our own development work and it's because of all the hard work, that we are competitive. If Suzuki Japan wanted to give us some more help, it would be much appreciated and it would be a great benefit to us all."

Nonetheless, Haslam was satisfied with his eighth and second place finish at Misano after the team made vast improvements on the bike between the races.

"After the issues we've had this weekend (to do with the clutch and electronics) I thought that eighth in race one was probably the best we'd get this weekend. But, all credit to the team because they went back to a setting that we used in USA and South Africa and the bike was much better in the second race.

"Race two felt like normal and the bike felt a million times better than race one, but I've got so many blisters on my hands because I was trying so hard. I took a lap or two too long to pass Troy (Corser) and Michel (Fabrizio) in the second race and by then Max was too far ahead to catch."

Haslam's comments come as Suzuki struggles to make an impression on MotoGP this season, its biggest racing expense.